The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-23
LIVE GOTHAM TOPICS.
WHAT CAN BE SEEN IN AN ORDI-
NARY WALK.

Drlnk--Absurdly Exaggerated Values
of the cart Galleries"--A Reaction
Against the Enforced Laws.
Julian Ralph, in a letter from New York
30 the Philadelphia Press, says: let me
show YOU one of the new fashioned places
is phrase that now very often accompanies
mn invitation to take a drink in New York
These new-style places have not invaded the
residence districts but are quite numerous
downtown. The stylish name for them is
.sBuffets, a title obtained from the CONTROL
ing article of furniture with which
each place is embellished-in plain
English, sideboard. These take the
place of the bars in the old-style saloons, and
are mere tiers of shelves rising above closets
topped by broad marble counter on which
there is a central well for water faucets and
wash trough. In each place the sdeboard
is against the wall and the room is all Open
with perhaps a table for free lunch opposite
the wall or a few tables and chairs scattered
over the carpet. The bartenders in white
starched linen coats without any display of
diamonds, which now are considered vul-
gar, move up and down in front of the
sideboards, which are usually towering tiers
of polished hard wood, paneled with beveled
mirror glass, aud having the shelves
nf+o1 tToSa shelves a,.a 80 ,ibii ii''i
l 90 IIo,od - 49, ~ I @ "
60 80 60, 0iie'o or,e 6i; or Jan pe
rbo1be. tbav are ,,acLs M. sbaI,loC IL i ~
fashion to load them with delicate cut
glass, very little of which is ever used and
which cost, in one place on Church street,
morn than half as much as the ornate buffet
- 80 a,,Sso iLoa4I as !m
,.as,,o+s ,,S,'aiIy ,,,;th hoa.-J ~ az
No tiI;nr ON ths oors a,'d ,ho 80 "a ma,
&c ,,atel s,faad ,,ona,, o., tb 1.,ons
ceiling. w w
-, - 10 ..'e NJ Tsl
on,1en, IF Yonloa fr;a,,d Of , oun he ho
stnod in 'front.' IF ono 81 thaso i's n
Ioes - az ,,ahoI ~ SO vi
',,oSt tiyriarS ~ do,,it ILL i1 RI ~ :,
80 -, 49,, - 10 ,nnai- Inc ~
Sr;,,i uo wants w Ella doU t hy ~s'i.c t
little 50 70 SNEAK The hartsndars Do a. not
IL; 49,, ~ IN ro, e. T'' IO,o. W ioU
naS,,t ,,.nter tha;,. ,.,a,.cs 40 Ell
Of ,,ost;o,, rybich tba,, bad a Ili,'J t I
1884, ii''O' oeiiiu ono oiu
THE ART GALLERIES
Gorgeous as the new places appear, they
do not cost as much as the bar-and- back-bar
establishments upon which the Germans led
igal expenditure. You hear of some of these
double drinking counters that cost 81 800
but figures freely furnished to the public are
always to be taken with number of grains
of allowance, whether they represent the
cost of putting a new play upon the stage or
Of procuring the latest Bowery museum
freak-the gentleman who lost his head in
the recent Rhode Island accident and gets
along finely with mere stump of his neck
The probability is that no saloonkeeper has
spent more than 5000 on a bar and back
bar in this city yet, and that some of the
showlest cost only $500 to
$500 The some exaggeration
exists with regard to- our art
galleries" as we have slangily named the
places that copy the Hoffman House bar
room by exhibiting costly paintings in them
Take that noblest exhibition as a represen-
tatlve instance. 1t is customary to estimate
the value of the art treasJ ~ in this drink
ing place at 100000 to $4,000, and this
sum is made up by putting the Correggio
canvas c'Narc1ssus'1 at $50, 900, the Gobelin
Tapestry at $1,000, and certain carvings in
wood and marble at S, 900 and 5000. The
fact is that the full list of such figures con-
talns items often nonsensical and often con-
ditional. For instance, it is not proven that
the "Narce>us" is Correggio If it is
there is no doubt of its worth, but its value
until that is proven is conjectural
bought at prices and under condi-
tions that would cause the sale of all
at even SIS, 900 to bring great profit. Not
one cost more than one-half the princey
sums that the hotel. keepers expended in
building and fitting the great saloons in
which they are exhibited, that is to say,
1000, though Bougereau's "Nymphs and
Satyrs" would probably fetch more than
MT. This is not said to depreciate the col
iection, but to show how the public has ex-
aggerated the cost of this method of attract
ing bar trade. The collection speaks for
itself, and many of its parts not only can
not be lessened by criticism which
would have to be ignorant to con-
denim them, but would bring great
prices if sold. Mr.. Ben iamin Constants
great painting in Wildey's saloon doubtless
cost $4,000, but when S25, 900 more is
added by correspondents to cover agents
commissions, the customs tax and the
mounting of the pictures, the calm and
philosophical listener has a right to suspect
that the figures are exaggerated or that the
owner parted too lightly with his money.
Nhen you nave pasSed the really VaIuaple
M;,d,e ,'5 VI one ii ntin llouse,
= aii on. placS, 1il.'
~ Cns vi oviiel
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